As a consequence of several recent discussions about whistleblowing and its insufficient regulation in the Czech Republic, the Czech Government approved the proposed adoption of a new act to protect whistleblowers on 13 June 2012. The draft law should be finalised by September 2012. If approved by the Czech Parliament, it may become effective in 2013 at the earliest.
As a consequence of several recent discussions about whistleblowing and its insufficient regulation in the Czech Republic, the Czech Government approved the proposed adoption of a new act to protect whistleblowers on 13 June 2012. The draft law should be finalised by September 2012. If approved by the Czech Parliament, it may become effective in 2013 at the earliest.
Despite its recent contribution to the investigation of some
bribery cases, Czech law currently does not contain any specific
protection for whistleblowing. Following a thorough research and
comparison with other legal systems, the Czech Governmental Office
has now proposed several legislative approaches to this legal
instrument, one of which has been confirmed recently by the Czech
Government.
Whistleblowing should cover the conduct of employees who report
any alleged crimes and significantly contribute to the
determination of the perpetrator and/or the investigation of such
crime.
Whistleblowers shall be granted a privileged position in criminal
proceedings, including the enhanced possibility to retain their
anonymity or right to inspect a criminal file. It is also
contemplated that the Labour Code be amended in order to protect
whistleblowers from any discrimination. Employees who report crime
at their workplace shall be protected from the termination of their
employment by the employer. In cases where such a measure would be
proportionate, whistleblowers could even be granted time-off with
full salary compensation paid by the state.
The proposed regulation will be subject to further political
discussions. Besides its positive aspects, it is claimed that it
may be easily misused by employees. However, the new legal
regulation proposes to also set down sanctions that may be imposed
against those who report a false announcement.
It is clear that the Czech Republic has made a significant step
forward to implement protection for whistleblowers. How the final
regulation will look however is unclear, and will remain so for at
least the next few months.
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The original publication date for this article was 21/06/2012